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Wall Street:
"US Doing
Better Than People Think: Goldman's O'Neill"
(CNBC)
Goldman Sachs
Asset Management Chairman Jim O'Neill thinks the U.S. is doing a lot better
than people realize.
"There is
such an ingrained negative mood internally in the U.S. about itself," he
told CNBC Thursday. "People now seem to be convinced that Europe is
going to drag the U.S. down. That might happen, but there is a strong
likelihood that it won’t."
The U.S.
"has coped pretty well with Japan going 20 years without any growth. So
why does Europe having problems definitely mean the U.S. goes back into
serious trouble?"
The U.S. is
"doing a lot better than the mood appears to be. There seems to be this
mood around an inevitability about the next course
or we’re back in recession or close to it. I don’t really buy
that," O'Neill said, adding he sees "no momentum for a
recession."
Main Street:
"Consumers Most Negative on U.S. Economy Outlook Since
Recession" (Bloomberg)
Consumer
confidence in the U.S. economic outlook slumped in October to the lowest
level since the recession, highlighting the challenges facing the biggest
part of the economy.
The Bloomberg
Consumer Comfort Index’s monthly expectations gauge dropped to minus
45, the worst reading since February 2009. The weekly measure of current
conditions was minus 48.4 for the period ended Oct. 16, up from minus 50.8
the prior week that was close to a record low.
...
The report
“is indicative of the sour mood of the American public,” said
Joseph Brusuelas, a senior economist at Bloomberg
LP in New York. They now “expect economic conditions to deteriorate
regardless of the recent increase in economic activity.”
"Americans Grow More Negative About Their Personal Finances" (Gallup)
Nearly half say
their financial situation is "getting worse," similar to early 2008
WASHINGTON,
D.C. -- Nearly one in four U.S. adults (22%) now rate their personal
financial situation as "poor." This is up slightly from the 16% to
19% range seen during and after the official U.S. recession, and is the
highest percentage since Gallup began asking this question in 2001.
"Most Americans Concerned about Double-Dip Recession" (Dairy
Herd Network)
The economic
signals continue to be mixed, but regardless of what you choose to believe,
most Americans believe that the United States will slip into a second
recession. They also look for more home foreclosures to come on to the scene,
according to an IBOPE Zogby Interactive Poll.
In a recent
survey, 95 percent of likely U.S. voters expressed their economic pessimism,
saying they are very or somewhat concerned that the U.S. economy is slipping
into another recession. As for home foreclosures, 89% are similarly concerned
that those will increase in the next two years, Zogby
reports.
"Poll: Americans Worried About Borrowing for Housing" (Newsmax.com)
Most Americans
are still worried about the possibility of a double-dip recession and are
refusing to borrow, whether for housing or even a few extra dollars to help
them get by, according to a new Allstate-National Journal poll.
The survey of 1,000 adults taken September 28 through October 2 found that
Americans are increasingly concerned about personal debt and taking on new
interest payments, and view borrowing as an obstacle to achieving the
“American Dream” rather than something that might help improve
their lives over time.
For example, 56 percent of those surveyed said borrowing now in a down
economy would only encourage people to spend beyond their means, and only one
in eight said they had actually borrowed money just to get by.
"AP-GfK Poll: Hope Weak for Economy,
Obama Remedies" (Associated
Press)
WASHINGTON
— A new AP-GfK poll shows that the dark funk
that appeared to settle over the country this summer has eased slightly, but
the American public remains gloomy about the economy and more than half say
President Barack Obama does not inspire confidence in a recovery.
The pessimism
is not a good sign for the nation's recovery hopes and presents a more urgent
challenge for Obama as he mounts his re-election bid.
Fewer
than a quarter of those surveyed say they think the economy worsened in the
past month. That's down sharply from the nearly half who felt that way in
August. Only 41 percent say the government can do much to create jobs, and
less than 40 percent say the main elements of Obama's jobs proposal would
increase employment significantly.
Under the
circumstances, no one should be surprised by this:
"Poll: Most Americans Support Occupy Wall Street" (The
Atlantic)
National
Journal's latest survey shows broad support for the protest movement and
Democrats' plan to make the rich pay more
At a time when
protests have erupted across the country over a growing inequality of wealth
and Congress is considering measures to impose a surtax
on those earning more than $1 million annually, the public seems to be in a
populist mood--one that's tempered by skepticism about Washington's ability
to do anything about the grim economy.
A new survey
shows that Americans overwhelmingly support the self-styled Occupy Wall
Street protests that not only have disrupted life in Lower Manhattan but also
in Washington and cities and towns across the U.S. and in other nations. Some
59 percent of adults either completely agree or mostly agree with the
protesters, while 31 percent mostly disagree or completely disagree; 10
percent of those surveyed didn't know or refused to answer.
What's more,
many people are paying attention to the rallies. Almost two-thirds of
respondents--65 percent--said they've heard "a lot" or
"some" about the rallies, while 35 percent have said they've heard
or seen "not too much" or "nothing at all" about the
demonstrations.
Michael J. Panzner
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